I Am A Cheetah...And A Mt Goat...Sort Of

Live out of your imagination, not your history. ~Stephen Covey

This morning, just as I was about to get in the shower, the shower curtain moved by itself. I stopped and looked at it and thought maybe it was my cat waiting to attack me. But then Spike walked up next to me and he was looking at the shower curtain too. First thing that went thru my mind was Psycho. Second thing was a ghost. Then a mouse. Then a REALLY BIG spider. All in the space of a few seconds. I almost didn’t want to know what was on the other side of the curtain but I pulled it back anyway and…nothing…the shower was empty. Whew.

Yep, I have a vivid imagination. I don't know what caused the shower curtain to move like that. I'm gonna go with ghost though. :)

I think my vivid imagination has come in handy for running. Oh sure, it's caused a few issues: imagining myself falling off a mountain, fending off a mountain lion, getting lost for days in the woods…even though I don’t run in the woods!

But on the whole it's been a good thing. It keeps me entertained on long runs so I'm never bored. I think you also have to have a good imagination when you sign up for a race. Some part of you has to imagine that you could finish it or you wouldn't sign up for it. Maybe at the time you sign up, you aren't ready but you will be.

They say that visualization is good for runners who race. It can help you get ready for a race and help you complete it when the going gets hard. I use it a lot while I'm running or sometimes at night when I feel overwhelmed or anxious about an upcoming race. I visualize myself running through the cheering crowds (there's always a stadium full) and crossing the finish line. The problem I had in the beginning was that I always visualized myself looking like I was in the first mile and that it would be easy. When it wasn't like that during my first few races, I was disappointed. Then I learned that racing is supposed to be hard and it's supposed to hurt. So I started visualizing what that would be like but that I'd still be running strong through the pain. That helped a lot.

So, um, as you know if you've been reading this blog...I am not the fastest runner out there nor am I the most agile trail runner. But I still have fun when I'm running on the road or on the trail. You know why? Because I turn on my imagination and become faster, smoother, lighter Runner Lisa. The Lisa that is so fast you can't see her. The Lisa that is so light and agile she can leap huge boulders with a single bound. Well, maybe 2. I do have short legs, you know. ;) Still...

When I'm running intervals or tempo runs and I want to run like the wind...or at least try to, I imagine I'm speedy like this --------------------->

(When I took this pic, I imagined the cheetah was looking at me like I was lunch. What do you think?)

And when I'm on the trails and I want to be fast and quick over technical sections, I imagine I'm this...

And while I'm not there YET, I will be one day! (Cross your fingers some of that happens this weekend at the Mesquite Canyon 30K!)

Have a great weekend and Run It Fast!